I'm a multiple-time entrepreneur, living and working in the heart of Silicon Valley for the past quarter century. Currently, I spend most of my time working on a new startup in the online education arena. I've got a BA in political science and an MBA from Stanford. Having been around technology and business on the leading edge, I write mostly about what's new and what's coming for companies and the country. You can find me on Facebook, Twitter and Google+ You can e-mail me at forbes_at_rogodotnet

Xbox Reveal: 'One' Console To Rule Them All

MicrosoftMicrosoft took the wraps off the Xbox One, its next-generation console today in a multimedia event that offered something thrilling for everyone. And it threw down the gauntlet at rival SonySony in a major way, promising not only a state-of-the-art gaming experience, but a device designed to be at the center of your living room for the next decade. Whereas Sony’s Playstation 4 reveal scarcely mentioned the device’s capabilities outside of gaming, Microsoft made it clear Xbox One is about watching TV and movies, listening to music and following your fantasy sports team. There was enough in the short clips of upcoming games to suggest the graphical capabilities will please hardcore gamers. But the “wow” moments were reserved for TV features and if you can make them work with your cable provider, they certainly seem intriguing.

Anyone who has used an Xbox 360 in the living room knows that among the frustrations is the fairly lengthy startup — often compounded by a delay to receive a new mandatory software update. With Xbox One, you say “Xbox On,” and you have control of the system. The new Kinect voice and motion control is no longer optional and is supposed to recognize you immediately. Microsoft’s Yusuf Mehdi showed off a login-free, instant recognition that included a screen that picked up right where he left off. (The idea here is that family members can each get to their own home screen instantly.) Presumably, software updates will now occur in the background rather than stopping you cold when you turn your system on ready to be entertained. Having lived with a Playstation 3, AppleTV, and Xbox 360 all demanding updates perpetually, this isn’t a small thing.

The voice control features let you switch between playing a game and watching television within the time it takes to change a channel, according to Microsoft. And, again, in the demos it seemed impressively fast. If you can take advantage of this, you’ll quickly get rid of your cable box. Microsoft was mute on the topic of who it would work with, which almost guarantees that means “not everyone” at launch. If one were betting, there was a mention of ComcastComcast in the demo and as the nation’s largest cable provider, they’d be a good one to begin with. Cnet reported a rumor about Verizon’s Fios as well, but neither was confirmed and the Comcast option seems more promising.

Not only do the voice options give you the ability to switch to TV viewing, but voice commands like “Show me what’s on HBO” as a proxy for an end to having to remember which channel is where on increasingly bloated cable and satellite lineups are, again, a big step up in usability. And importantly, a lot of this seemed intuitive, unlike, say the hidden Windows 8 menus you have to pull from the sides of the screen once you know they’re present. A very brief demo of the fantasy sports feature made it seem like it could become popular with fans of that genre, although the crossover between them and Xbox owners might not be as big as Microsoft hopes.

Like Microsoft, Sony has been supporting the use of its current console as a way to watch movies as well as play games. In fact, the PS3 originally launched as a “multimedia hub” and many folks had it as their first BluRay player. But at this point, Microsoft has not only caught Sony but left it far behind. Xbox One has the BluRay drive (at last) and at least the tantalizing prospect of being your cable box, too. For some folks, that might matter since one of the few downsides today is that the Xbox One seemed large — like the size of an A/V receiver or early-generation DVR. Microsoft promised it would be “virtually silent” so it’s possible a lot of space is dedicated to things like cooling and bigger fans, which can move more air with less sound.

In terms of internals, they didn’t say much other than that memory is boosted to 8GB and the “transistor count” is far higher. None of that means anything to normal folks, of course, but what does matter is that the internals of the PS4 and Xbox One are likely to be substantially similar. The last generation of consoles lasted nearly 8 years and can still offer a reasonable gaming experience thanks to solid hardware inside. The newer generation seems poised to offer a similar kind of longevity. Whether it can solve the larger puzzle of a declining console market remains to be seen. NintendoNintendo‘s Wii U is off to a record worst launch in the industry’s history. That might be good news for Sony and Microsoft, or it might not.

Some key details might not be known until next month’s E3 gaming conference — or even well after. Specifically, what is this going to cost? A rumor of a $499 price tag wasn’t confirmed by Microsoft today but Sony’s console is expected to be similarly expensive. Whether discounts are offered based on subscribing to Xbox Live, Microsoft’s online service, also wasn’t discussed. (It was reported by Paul Thurrott, a pre-eminent Microsoft blogger, that the Xbox Live might be $299 with a 2-year, $10/month subscription). As I mentioned when PS4 launched, gaming in general has undergone something of a diaspora, moving to mobile and, of course, the PC as those have gained capabilities while the consoles aged.

The attractiveness of Xbox One to the core demographic seems clear and Microsoft made sure those folks don’t feel forgotten. Features like instant upload of game saves and video clips to the cloud — for bragging rights — were mentioned prominently. But the hedging is there, too. Xbox has been a bright spot of sorts for Microsoft, a consistently profitable consumer product from a company that has had few. It’s therefore also no surprise that so much attention was paid on improving Kinect, which hardcore game players generally ignore, but casual folk who like a dancing or exercise game have embraced. And including it for everyone means developers have more opportunity to sell Kinect games, which is no small thing.

Overall, this press conference was a much more impressive and polished show than Sony’s, unless you were looking to see a lot of the new games. But Microsoft knows that the people who care will be rapt with attention when E3 bows in just a few weeks. And the demos from EA Sports and of Call of Duty were enough to let people know it’s possible to make beautiful games on Xbox One. It’s clear Microsoft was trying to get the attention of a lot more people than just the E3 crowd today. And there was more than enough sizzle to do that. Whether they can keep the excitement building through a fourth-quarter release is another matter. On the one hand, Microsoft seemed confident they have a great product to bring to market — and that’s a fair characterization of Xbox One. On the other hand, the future of that market is hazier than Microsoft might want to admit.

Post Your Comment

Post Your Reply

Forbes writers have the ability to call out member comments they find particularly interesting. Called-out comments are highlighted across the Forbes network. You'll be notified if your comment is called out.

Comments

“And it threw down the gauntlet at rival Sony in a major way, promising not only a state-of-the-art gaming experience, but a device designed to be at the center of your living room for the next decade.”

My last paycheck was $7500 working 12 hours a week online. My sisters friend has been averaging 11k for months now and she works about 20 hours a week. I can’t believe how easy it was once I tried it out. The potential with this is endless. This is what I do, Rich4.Com_

I guess what I’m reacting is the 10-15 seconds to get to the avatar selection and then the additional few seconds before I can use the Xbox. On my laptops (which sit in sleep mode), I can use them in 2-3 seconds typically.

Also, you probably use your Xbox more than I use mine. About 30% of the time, I >also< have to wait for a mandatory update before I can proceed with it. Very irritating and I won't miss that if I wind up with a One.

Im not buying this. A fee for used games? Kiss my As* Microsoft. And a mandatory Kinect, screw you. Xbox fanbase has been loyal and they’ve delt with you online fee and every other crap you throw at our faces. SCREW YOU, I’m buying a PS4 and a Wii U.

you made a good point. Seems to me microsoft is going in the direction of Sega and their demise in the old nintendo vs sega console war. Remember how you had the sega genesis. oh look new system Sega CD needing the sega gensis for it to work. oh look sega 32x again you need both the sega, and sega cd for it to work.lol. Ive always been a big fan of sony yeah sony dont make you pay to go or play online games. sure they had some one hack into their account system but the problem was fixed. I didnt worry cause I dont ever link my debit or credit card numbers to my account. All I do is purchase Sony network pre paid cards when I need funds to purchase expansions of games. Dont get me wrong I also have an xbox 360 and use it for some game titles but all around I like sony since you dont deal with the mandatory b.s